


Zen and the Art of Hypnotizing Doors

by NannaSally



Series: In Between the Scenes [3]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: F/M, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-11
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-03-16 17:32:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 2,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13641093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NannaSally/pseuds/NannaSally
Summary: b7friday: Cabin fever."People must get bored on those long trips between planets... So how do our crew manage their time?"





	1. Doors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Avon manages his time between missions

"If you sit by a door and stare at it long enough, eventually it will open." _The Cat Next Door 2016_

  
  
It was this philosophy that kept Avon continuously 'staring at the door' of the amazing Alien Technology he had one day found himself in front of. When he opened one door, there was another beckoning him on. He felt like he had barely explored the floorplan of one room before his itch to know more had him investigating further.   
  
He was pretty sure that it would take the rest of his life before he began to understand even half of what he had uncovered, and that as much as anything else kept him on the Liberator, no matter how often he protested his wish to leave.   
  
And if he did spend the rest of his life investigating Liberator, getting to know Zen down at the electron level, he may well die happy.   
  
So long as Blake and his Big Bleeding Heart did not get him killed first.


	2. The Ear of the Beholder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vila is eager to reduce the boredom.

"I've got it!"

"We always knew you did, Vila."

"Yes, yes. Avon I really have got it. A way to keep us occupied between our bouts of high adventure and excitement that might just get us all dead."

Vila removed the covering of the bulky equipment he had set up near the view screen during his last shift.

"Tah Dah."

Jenna blinked. "I don't think so."

Gan looked decidedly interested. "Oh, I have always liked those."

Blake seemed suddenly thoughtful. "This could be useful. Now I wonder where I put those files."

Cally seemed bemused. "What is it Vila?"

Avon just scowled and walked off the flight deck as rapidly as he could while maintaining his dignity.

 

 

**************************

"Karaoke anyone?"


	3. Origami

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dayna folds.

Dayna enjoyed origami -  the art of folding paper in fantastic shapes. Take a flat piece of paper and fold and fold, and fold and open and you have a crane, a frog, a warg-strangler, a flower. There was a never ending range of shapes to try, some more complicated than others.

And the techniques could be utilised for any flat substance, such as fabrics to make interesting bags and pouches. So what about plastics or metals? The items would certainly be more resilient, and could be put to use in all manner of ways.

And the flat object could be secreted about her person unnoticed and opened when needed. Now to fold some wheels and other components. Next time she needed a mobile bomb she would not have to wonder how to carry it with her.


	4. Care and Concern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gan cares

He had always enjoyed caring for smaller creatures, those less able to care for themselves due to size, age or health. As a child he had frequently brought injured birds home and tried nursing them back to health, much to the despair of his mother. The house only had one bathroom and at various times it would bear a sign on its door "Careful, Bird at Large" and the wary user would step quickly in, shutting the door hurriedly while checking the floor for clear spaces to step.

As he grew he started adding local fauna to his hospital ward. A fierce marsupial that lived in the nearby forest would sometimes fall foul of the timber cutters and if found would end up in a box on his doorstep. The chance of a bite did not bother him. He knew it was the result of fear, not real aggression. And when the Federation system did not allow him to continue at school as he wished, he was able to get work with a local farmer with the livestock. He became known for his ability to calm and care for ill and injured animals.

If only he had been able to continue at school and trained to be a medic – maybe he would have been able to save her...

So now Gan spent his time between missions learning all he could of Liberator's medical bay and equipment. He was delighted to help his crewmates overcome any injuries no matter how small with the amazing healing pads and always kept a few on him when he went off ship. 

And on his last day, Gan was able to help the young rebel girl he and Blake found because he was always prepared.


	5. Relaxation Techniques

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meditation? or something stronger

Relaxation comes in many forms. Certainly there are the traditional means such as massage, bubble baths and Vila's favourite – liquid relaxation. 

But Jenna looked to something different. There were times that her frustrations grew so big she had difficulty concentrating on presenting her proud, professional image of the competent pilot, fearless in all situations. 

She was fed up with being coddled by Blake when she really did not want it. He tried to leave her on board for most missions, with Cally, and more so after the C... fiasco. And now he had pushed her out of the way of piloting as if she was a delicate flower. It was just too much. 

Thank goodness she had the privacy of her room to keep her relaxation project close at hand. She thought she might be prepared now to share the results of her meditation sessions with Cally. 

"So Cally, what do you think?" 

"Ummm what is it supposed to be?" 

"Don't you recognise it? It's Blake." 

"Oh. Oh yes I see now, I just have to look at it from the right angle. I see his nose has been a bit flattened. And this is how you have been relaxing?" 

"Yes. Would you like to have a go? You take this lump of clay and then you bash it, and bash it and BASH it and you can feel all the tension draining out of you and into it. And when you have finished you can put it back in the damp cloth for next time."

"Right. Why are you calling it 'Blake'?"

"Do you really have to ask>"

"Ah, no. Do you think I could have  a lump called 'Avon'?"


	6. The Shell GAme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vila bets he can...

Vila was always fiddling when he wasn’t sleeping or eating or complaining. He most liked fiddling with locks although he preferred to do so without an audience until he had it perfectly right.

He also really enjoyed sleight of hand magic tricks and juggling. While delivering Sarkoff and his daughter Tyce to Lindor to regain his presidency, Vila had engaged the older man in a discussion on the history of the close up magician which evidently was nearly as old as time itself. Apparently the Federation was not the first government to look unfavourably at street practitioners of the art, especially of those who chose the Shell Game as their specialty. 

The trick here was to make sure the punters were kept unware of what the Artiste was up to. And Vila definitely considered himself an Artiste of the first magnitude. So he decided to give the old trick an airing with his crewmates, complete with street patter.

“Now friends, you see I put the ball under the cup in the middle of the three. I will now move them around the table and all I ask you to do is tell me which cup has the ball under it.”

Gan came close. He had seen this trick in the markets back on Zephron but had been hesitant about risking money on a guess. But Vila was offering him a guess for free, what could he lose? He tapped the middle cup.

“Yes my friend, you have a fine eye there – here is the ball. How about having another go?” Vila moved the cups around the table more swiftly this time and again Gan tapped the cup and found the ball. After a further two rounds Blake and Jenna had been drawn closer to watch.

“Now young man” Vila was in full fairground mode, “how about having a go and impressing that nice young lady you have with you?” Blake smiled at his cheeky accent and chose a cup. Sure enough, there was the ball.

Vila now had the attention of all the crew, even Avon and Cally had joined the group. Time to turn up the pace a little.

“Well done sir, how about making it more interesting with a little wager on the side?”

“What had you in mind Vila?”

“Well, how about wagering the next rostered dishwashing session? If you find the ball I will do yours, if you don’t you will do mine?”

“Oh, why not indeed.”

Vila looked suitably subdued when Blake won again.

Avon sneered as expected, “You’re really not as good at this as you claim, are you Vila?.”

“Ok Avon, see if you can predict which cup does not have a ball under it. If you win I will do all your dishes for the next month. If you don’t you can do mine.”

Avon was a bit suspicious, but he did not see how he could back out now. 

“You’re on.”

Vila showed the crew the three cups, put the ball under the middle one and started moving them around the table. 

“All right Avon, pick a cup without a ball.”

Avon picked one – a ball was revealed. 

“Well that’s no dishes for me for a month” chortled Vila as he picked up the other cups – revealing balls under each of them.


	7. Gan Cares Some More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gan really is a caring sort of man and likes to spread that caring around

He sat up abruptly, hand going to the blaster he kept under his pillow. In the low light he listened carefully, trying to decide if he had time to grab his clothes or if the crisis demanded he robe himself in just his dignity. 

After a moment he heard giggles and a metallic bumping. OK, clothes it was.  

As he opened the door he noticed Vila and Blake standing in the corridor. Tonight it had been decided that Zen and Orac could manage on shift alone as they had chosen a remote area of space for a short break from “Bravely being shot at” as Vila described it. 

“What’s going on?” 

A shrug. “Don’t ask me” said Vila, pointing at Gan’s door. “it seems to be coming from in there.” 

And there were further giggles punctuated by "shhh, you’ll wake the others’ coming from the room. 

More metallic bumpings. Gan was a big man and he had found the Liberator’s standard bunks a little cramping, so he had acquired a large bed on one of their landings on neutral planet Ikea – one of those beds that require dexterity and an engineer’s degree to put together and always ends up with three extra pieces left over. Fortunately Blake had been happy to help translate the instructions from neo-Swedish into standard. 

Now Avon could hear Gan’s deeper rumblings. “Seems it was not really designed for three.” 

The men in the corridor looked at each other and tacitly agreed not to enquire too closely when they next met their crewmates...


	8. Be Prepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A training piece
> 
> A piece I posted by itself previously, but really belongs here.

He remembered the training he had received, the way Sensei had encouraged him and stressed the uses of discipline.  The Strength and Suppleness that could be accrued by practice, practice, practice.

_“_ _Practicing a kata will help you to not only learn its steps, but how your body and muscles transition from one movement to the next. The more you practice, the more effective and efficient your movements will become, leading to a more powerful finish_ _”_

  * _Focus on yourself in the moment. Turn your attention inward. Remove all other thoughts -  quiet your mind._



No more thinking of what went wrong, what should have been done differently, what if scenarios – at least for the minutes of the exercise. His mind worked so fast, so continuously. It had always been hard to find a quietness, a peace, a place to zone out of the moment. The Federation Therapist had prescribed a highly respected Martial Arts teacher for the active young man with the great potential. This one needed special handling.

  * _Breathe efficiently – no holding it in – adjust the rate to the situations demands._



Control, all about control. Always it was about control. If he could control what others knew about him he could control what they did to him, what they expected of him. Control the breathing, control the muscles, control the emotions – control the future?

  * _Posture, Balance, Stability grounding your centre -  form over speed._



Speed would come with practice – accuracy was the place to start – accuracy of placement, accuracy of strength, accuracy of intent. Accuracy of coding, accuracy of reading, accuracy of understanding.

  * _Pay attention to your muscles, how they work together as one_. 



Muscle control and strength – perhaps the back pains would be controlled as well.  Galaxy knows he was kinked up over a computer board, or lying in an awkward space way too often. Why the aliens had chosen to build the computer systems in such awkward spaces was another source of mystery that might never be solved.  The Kata and stretching would help limber up his muscles again.

  * _Use an imaginary opponent as a focus – this could be a real fight that becomes lethal._



Hah – this one was easy –the opponent might not be  _here_ , but was not strictly imaginary – visualising the satisfaction of giving the lethal blow just added satisfaction to the sessions.

  * _Project confidence to intimidate your opponent_



He needed this NOW. He had let his skills slip when the computers just became too damn fascinating, and he had been arrogant to imagine that what he had learned would stay with him forever.  But his body needed reminding, just like his mind did.

The discipline also helped during those almost interminable journeys through space, waiting for the next ambush, the next crisis, the next crazy mission.  He was determined to be prepared – mind and body.


	9. Avon's Cat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Avon's Cat

 

“It is a cat.”

Avon’s look was mirrored by the look from the animal that curled along the arm of his chair – so close and no closer. No one felt quite comfortable with challenging that look.

“Well yes, I can see it is a cat – I’ve seen them in books, but where did it come from?” and why is it here, with you, was left unsaid.

“We came to an understanding.” said Avon. He did not add that he had found it being tormented by a group of young ruffians on the planet they had recently visited. It had reminded him all too clearly of his experience at the hands of similar young thugs when he had been a boy. Being different was never easy. He had glared at the youths until they had scampered away and picked up the frightened creature and teleported via Orac while the others were still occupied gathering stores.

In the Medical Unit he was able to deal with the cat's injuries by which time the cat had obviously decided that this was a relationship worth exploring further. Avon procured some suitable nourishment from the galley and placed the cat in his room while it acclimatised itself to the Liberator environment. This was his first time out in public.

“What is the cat’s name?” asked Vila.

“Well now, you will have to ask the cat.” responded Avon.

 

 


End file.
